Akers on Kyle Williams: ‘I’m irritated with the way people are treating him’

Niners placekicker David Akers knows what Kyle Williams is going through about the second-year wideout fumbled two punts in a 20-17 overtime loss to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

Last year, Akers missed field goals of 34 and 41 yards in a 21-16 divisional-playoff loss to the Packers. Akers took plenty of abuse from Eagles fans and didn’t even get much support from his own coach after that game.

Said Philadelphia coach Andy Reid: “We can all count. Those points would have helped.”

One year later, Akers is disgusted by the reaction of some Niners fans who have sent Williams death threats via Twitter since Sunday night’s game.

Wrote Akers on Twitter this morning: “I didn’t think this would happen but ppl need to get a grip! Leave Kyle alone! We win and lose as a team. Not from one person or play.

Akers spoke today about Williams and being a “so-called goat” today:

Q: Thoughts on Kyle Williams?

DA: I was that guy last year. I missed two kicks in a playoff game. And it’s tough because we’re all competitors and we all give it everything we have. Kyle’s made a lot of big plays for us. He’s just trying to make plays out there. The weather conditions were horrible. I know he’d never give any excuses for any of that. I say this and I say it in the truest way: We win as a team, we lose as a team. There are times I miss and somebody picks me up. And as a brother out there, I just say we love him. I think he’ll back to do bigger and greater things.

Q: You sent a tweet where you sounded …

DA: I’m irritated with the way people are treating him, absolutely. I think it’s ridiculous. You know, get a grip on what life’s about. He went out and he put his soul out there. That’s what he does. He was not trying to do anything other than make an incredible play for this team. He had a great kickoff return. Mistakes happen. We all make mistakes. But when you’re out there truly battling to do the best you can, my hat goes off to him to anybody that does that.

Q: Were you responding to some of the tweets?

DA: Absolutely. That’s what I was talking about.

Q: Did you take heat like that?

DA: Yeah, we all take heat at times for things perceived in the sports world. I just think that Kyle’s just a great guy. He stood up with the media yesterday with you guys, I thought that was just a great show of character. I think that this will make him stronger. We all have valleys in our lives. We’d all like to have days, plays back. And one or two plays did not change the outcome of that game. Yeah, it provides things for another team or whatever. But I just totally believe that Kyle’s a stud and we all could have done something better to change the outcome of the game.

Q: Did you talk to him about what you went through?

DA: Absolutely. There’s game where I’ve been the so-called hero and the so-called goat. It probably lies somewhere in between. That’s the reality of all we do. The great thing about having wonderful teammates in here, guys that truly understand the game … This is what people don’t really get. We all start training, basically in about two weeks from now, to get ready for the next season. So a lot of times when the cameras and people don’t see what we’re doing, we put our heart and soul into what we do. We’re all competitors. I don’t care if you’re playing jacks, we all want to win. So when we’re out there, we want to do the best that we possibly can. And sometimes we do make mistakes.